How Big Should Area Rugs Be?

Defining an Area

• Especially in an open floor plan, area rugs are an excellent tool for centering groups of furniture. An area rug between the couch and entertainment center indicates the best space for viewing or listening. A rug under a table and chairs can draw together a dining area.

Providing Decorative Cohesion

• Not all decorating schemes involve new furniture, and neutrals, while soothing, can also make rooms feel dull. Centering an area rug in a family room or den can pull together an assortment of colors and styles in furnishings. Reflecting the warm beige of the couch while adding a darker shade of brown, a patterned area rug can provide an echo of the turquoise and orange accent pillows without letting those strong colors overwhelm the room. Cohesion works in reverse as well. An attractive area rug may provide the complementary and contrasting colors that can be added in small decorative touches of accent pillows, window scarf and handcrafted mirror.

Defining Areas of Activity

• Teachers and homemakers have used area rugs to define activity for many years, from the wet-boot mat in the entry hall to the fluffy rug under the bathroom vanity makeup stool. Area rugs can set aside part of a child's bedroom for building or active play. A small rug next to a fold-out futon makes a guest bed seem less improvised. The size of an activity-defining rug will depend on the activity, but all activity rugs, large and small, set aside space in a unique way -- a particularly important contribution to a multi-use room.

Optimum Rug Sizes

• Some general guidelines are helpful in selecting the exact size of area rug needed for a specific area or activity. Decorators recommend that, in general, an area rug be large enough to accommodate all the furniture centered around it or small enough that none of the furniture stands on the rug. Accommodating all four legs of chairs and sofas surrounding a coffee table permits easy movement on the rug and prevents furniture slippage. Using a rug only large enough to hold the coffee table and placing all other furniture feet on the floor is the opposite strategy. Furniture is kept level and does not slip. Further, the feet of family and guests are spared the aggravation of getting caught on rug edges. Area rugs need one other general clearance for proper maintenance. Allow a minimum of 1 foot of space between all rug edges and room baseboards. This allows for easy cleaning of both the rug and floor surfaces.

Special Situations

• While "four on the floor (or the rug)" covers many situations, you should also know the calculations decorators recommend you make in specific situations. Chairs around a dining or kitchen table need a minimum of 16 inches of slide room, allowing diners to sit down and get up comfortably. Rugs placed beside a bed should allow the person getting out of bed to take a minimum of two steps before encountering another surface. Rugs in a room with a door sill at the entry should permit at least two steps on the floor before stepping on the rug; the alternative choice is to start and end the rug at entryway sills. When dealing with a bathroom vanity, bar stools or a children's reading corner, factor in the space the intended activity is likely to use, including the exact furniture the activity will need if possible. The question is not whether an area rug is large enough to accommodate a nursery rocking chair; rather, whether the rug is large enough to accommodate the specific rocking chair in your child's nursery.